After being cast by Garrison Keillor in ?A Prairie Home Companion? at the young age of 10, Erica Rhodes discovered right away the double-edged sword of childhood fame similar to the stars of the Harry Potter franchise. On the one hand, the actress got to grow up on stage alongside accomplished Hollywood stars such as Martin Sheen, Meryl Streep, and Allison Janney. On the other, Erica began to be treated differently by school friends who resented, and were perhaps jealous of the extra attention she received from being on a national radio show. Fortunately, Erica?s mother was the Concert Master for the Pro Arte Chamber Orchestra (near Boston, Massachusetts) and was always careful to make sure Erica?s feet stayed firmly planted on the ground. Or as Erica puts it, ?my mom helped keep my head from exploding!?
Similar to the young stars of Harry Potter like Daniel Radcliffe, who grew up on stage with some of the finest British actors of our time, Erica worked with some of America?s biggest stars during her appearances on ?A Prairie Home Companion." Allison Janney, prior to her success with ?American Beauty? and ?West Wing?, was especially supportive. Allison provided Erica with the guidance and encouragement the young actress needed at her young age of 10. Before each performance, Allison would bring Erica into the dressing room and lead her through vigorous and fun pre-show warmup routines, which included vocalizing and tongue twisters that continue to help Erica to this day.
While Harry Potter faces evil against the wicked Volemort character, Erica also knows what it?s like to battle scary villains in films. Erica?s most recent confrontation with evil occurs in Killer Eye 2 (http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/45068/exclusive-new-info-killer-eye-2-halloween-haunt), a horror film that just wrapped shooting and is due for a Halloween release in 2011. In Killer Eye 2, distributed by Full Moon Pictures, the villain is an evil eye that comes to life and starts zapping Erica and the rest of the characters with all sorts of special effects similar to Voldemort does with Harry and his cronies in Deathly Hallows, Part 2. Although the final cut of Killer Eye 2 is indeed chill-inducing, Erica found it challenging and amusing to act opposite ?a big, painted rubber ball on a stick being waved being around by a prop-master just off camera.? In other horror news, Erica will be featured in the horror anthology, ?Theater Bizarre? (playing a creepy cellist in a segment entitled ?Sweets?), which premiered last week at the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal.
Although Erica Rhodes is clearly breaking out as a film actress, internet fans can take heart that this young actress is still going strong in two web series, Upstairs Girls (140 million YouTube views and counting) and Sandyschannel. In fact, Erica can be seen on a weekly livechat for Upstairs Girls (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O2TS7t6mkg), appearing on computers near you every Monday for two hours at 11am (PST). For a fun and timely interview, please contact:
Media Contact:
Tim Davis
Sunrise Road Media
Marketing, PR and Social Media
http://sunriseroadmedia.com
dahvees(at)gmail(dot)com
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About Erica Rhodes
Erica Rhodes is best known as the star of the breakout web series, 'Upstairs Girls', which along with its spinoff ?Sandy's Channel? (also starring Erica) has already attracted over 140 million views on YouTube! Erica?s work on these two shows earned her a nomination for 'Most Hilarious Leading actress in a webseries' by the LA Comedy Awards, which also dubbed her ?the Reese Witherspoon of the internet.? Erica?s career began when she was discovered at the age of 10 by Garrison Keillor. Since then she has been a regular guest on the Keillor?s legendary NPR radio show, "A Prairie Home Companion," and has performed all over the country alongside Meryl Streep, Martin Sheen, and Allison Janney. In the last year, Erica has appeared in several notable independent features, including the horror film, "Plague Town" directed by David Gregory, as well as "Go West" and "Javatown." http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0722423/
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